What are the important events that happened on January 8? Here are historical events, facts, and some myths about this day.

January 8: Facts & Myths About This Day

January 8 is the 8^th day of the year 2025 in the Gregorian calendar. There are 357 days remaining until the end of this year. The day of the week is Wednesday.

Under the Julian calendar, this day is December 26, 2024 – a Wednesday. Both day of the week are the same but did you notice the difference with the Gregorian calendar?

When this day started, 1,736,294,400 seconds has elapsed since midnight of January 1, 1970 – the Unix epoch.

Strange as it may, if we name this day after a polygon then it will be called ‘octagon’ day.

Capricorn is the zodiac sign of a person born on this day. Garnet is the modern birthstone for this month. Emerald is the mystical birthstone from Tibetan origin that dates back over a thousand years.

According to the lunisolar Chinese calendar, there are 21 days remaining before the start of the next Chinese New Year.

The ancient Maya civilization believes that the end of the world will happen on December 21, 2012. There are now 4,401 days since this fabled cataclysmic event.

January 8 Historical Events

• 1297 –
  François Grimaldi, disguised as monk, leads his men to capture the fortress protecting the Rock of Monaco, establishing his family as the rulers of Monaco.
• 1734 –
  Premiere performance of George Frideric Handel’s Ariodante at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden.
• 1780 –
  An earthquake of estimated magnitude 7.7 hits the city of Tabriz, Iran, killing about 80,000 people and causing major damage.
• 1838 –
  Alfred Vail demonstrates a telegraph system using dots and dashes (this is the forerunner of Morse code).
• 1863 –
  American Civil War: Second Battle of Springfield
• 1889 –
  Herman Hollerith is issued US patent #395,791 for the ‘Art of Applying Statistics’— his punched card calculator.
• 1962 –
  The Harmelen train disaster killed 93 people in the Netherlands.
• 1975 –
  Ella T. Grasso becomes Governor of Connecticut, the first woman to serve as a Governor in the United States other than by succeeding her husband.
• 1977 –
  Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group.
• 2010 –
  Gunmen from an offshoot the Front for the Liberation of the Enclave of Cabinda attacked the bus carrying the Togo national football team on its way to the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations, killing three.

Who were born on January 8?

• 1763 –
  Edmond Charles Genêt, French diplomat (d. 1834)
• 1862 –
  Frank Nelson Doubleday, American publisher (d. 1934)
• 1926 –
  Soupy Sales, American comedian (d. 2009)
• 1942 –
  Valya Balkanska, Bulgarian folk singer
• 1945 –
  Kojo Nnamdi, Guyanese-born American radio host
• 1959 –
  Duk Koo Kim, Korean boxer (d. 1982)
• 1965 –
  Michelle Forbes, American actress
• 1971 –
  Mike Süsser, German chef
• 1971 –
  Pascal Zuberbühler, Swiss footballer
• 1972 –
  Giuseppe Favalli, Italian footballer

Who died on January 8?

• 1337 –
  Giotto di Bondone, Italian artist (b. 1267)
• 1456 –
  St. Lawrence Justinian, Italian bishop and first Patriarch of Venice (b. 1381)
• 1464 –
  Thomas Ebendorfer, Austrian historian (b. 1385)
• 1943 –
  Richard Hillary, Australian Spitfire pilot and author (b. 1919)
• 1956 –
  Jim Elliot, American Christian missionary (b. 1928)
• 1976 –
  Robert Forgan, British fascist (b. 1891)
• 1981 –
  Matthew “Stymie” Beard, American actor (b. 1925)
• 2002 –
  Alexander Mikhaylovich Prokhorov, Nobel Prize in Physics laureate (b. 1916)
• 2007 –
  David Ervine, Northern Irish politician (b. 1953)
• 2009 –
  Richard John Neuhaus, Canadian-American Christian writer and editor (b. 1936)